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WR Donovan Peoples-Jones

Saturday was the best outing of the sophomore receiver's career. Not only did Peoples-Jones make a career-high three touchdown catches (matching the entire 13-game output of last season's wideouts in one game), but he showed the type of growth Michigan has talked about for months. His grab on the back-shoulder throw in the end zone was his best play as a wide at U-M. His routes have been on point; he has been patient. He's turning into a playmaker.

DE Chase Winovich

Winovich has been Michigan's best defensive player through three weeks, as he's up to 5.5 tackles for loss on the season after another very productive afternoon against SMU. He's now tied for third in the Big Ten in total tackles for loss and he's second on the team in tackles (19) from his defensive end position. It looks like another highly productive season is on the horizon for Winovich, who is now tied with Dhani Jones for 10th all-time on the school's TFL list (33).

Michigan fan Larry Prout throws the gloves of defensive end Chase Winovich to fans, as they leave the field after the 45-20 win over SMU on Saturday, Sept. 15, 2018 at Michigan Stadium. Kirthmon F. Dozier, Detroit Free Press

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Secondary

Saturday was not at Michigan's standard for secondary play, as SMU quarterbacks threw for three touchdowns and drew three pass interference flags in the game. This was the No. 1 pass defense in America last season and it brought everyone back. And outside of Josh Metellus' pick-six, there were too many hiccups on Saturday. SMU's James Proche (targeted 17 times) had 11 catches for 166 yards and two touchdowns.

Running back depth

Wilson continues to trend, but he's still relatively new to the rotation and the overall depth at the position is not great right now. Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh said "we'll see" when asked about the status of both Higdon and Evans moving forward for this week's game against Nebraska (noon Saturday, Fox Sports 1). This is not an ideal situation just three weeks into the season.